Woman pleads guilty to killing man while driving under influence of drugs, sentenced to 20 years behind bars

Posted on 05/18/2018

GREELEY, Colo. (Weld County D.A.) - A Weld County woman will spend the next 20 years behind bars after pleading guilty to killing a man and injuring several others last July while she was driving under the influence of drugs.

Friday morning, 26-year-old Nichole Hill of Evans plead guilty to one count of Vehicular Homicide, a class 3 Felony, and one count of Vehicular Assault, a class 4 Felony.

The crash happened on July 20, 2017 at about 4:30 a.m. on Interstate 25 near mile marker 233 in Weld County. According to court records, Hill drove into the back of a 1997 Ford Expedition. Both vehicles went off the east side of I-25 and rolled over several times.

The male driver of the Ford Expedition was killed in the crash. A male passenger in that vehicle suffered serious bodily injuries, including broken ribs and a broken leg.

A female passenger in Hill’s vehicle suffered from a broken sternum in the crash.

At the scene of the crash, authorities found a syringe with a small amount of clear liquid in the barrel, a marijuana pipe, marijuana grinder and a torch. Hill tested positive for cannabinoids, amphetamine and opiods.

“This wasn’t the first time Hill got behind the wheel under the influence of drugs or alcohol,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Anthony Perea told the court Friday morning. “There’s no doubt she struggled with addiction. But her addicition put her behind the wheel and it took the life of an innocent man. No amount of years behind bars will ever bring him back or bring peace to his family members who now suffer every single day because of this senseless act. It’s tragic all the way around.”

Hill was immediately sentenced by a judge after she entered her guilty pleas in court Friday.

She was sentenced to a stipulated 20 years in the Department of Corrections on Count 1 and a stupulated four years in DOC on Count 3. Both sentences will run concurrent to one another, meaning she will serve both at the same time.